National Basketball Association

Rejuvenated Julius Randle and veteran standouts lead Knicks to crucial victory

Updated May. 27, 2021 11:54 a.m. ET

By Yaron Weitzman
FOX Sports NBA Writer

NEW YORK – When the New York Knicks entered their locker room at halftime of Game 2 Tuesday night, it felt like their magical season was slipping away.

It wasn’t just that they trailed the Atlanta Hawks by 13, or that they had already dropped Game 1 at home, or that they hadn’t led since the first minute of the first quarter.

It was that the Knicks' defense had become leaky. It was that once again they had no answer for Trae Young, and now his teammates were being given open looks, too. It was that their shooters couldn’t shoot and their guards were tossing up bricks and then there was Julius Randle, their engine for the season, who had misfired on 17 of his 23 shots in Game 1 and yet, somehow, had been even worse through this first half of Game 2. His six attempts had all clanked off the rim. More concerning were the number of open looks he turned down.

The MSG crowd had begun the night so ebullient, so exuberant. Now they were booing the halftime performer and wondering amongst one another — while standing in line for the men’s room — whether Randle (whose contract will be reworked this off-season) is a player worthy of a max deal.

Halftime arrived. The Knicks had 24 minutes to save their season. In the locker room, a group of veterans addressed the team. Theo Pinson, Taj Gibson and Reggie Bullock all spoke up. Their message was simple. "We’ve been in this position before," Randle recalled. "So, it's just up to us to change it."

So, they did exactly that. Head coach Tom Thibodeau tweaked his rotations, Randle found his groove, the defense found its energy, Derrick Rose and Gibson found time machines, and the Knicks blew out the Hawks by 22 points for the half, claiming a 101-92 Game 2 victory and sending the MSG crowd into a frenzy.

"I love this team," Thibodeau said after the victory. "There's a great will and determination to them, and obviously we were disappointed with the way we played in the first half, but I knew in the second half, there would be great fight, and there was."

Here’s the thing about this Knicks team: nothing about them makes sense. They won 41 games this season when most predicted they’d come closer to half that. They did so riding a step-back-3-draining Randle, a player who after last season appeared destined for a career coming off the bench. They did so riding a defense that finished No. 4 in the league despite allowing opponents to take a greater percentage of 3s than any team. They did so by regularly handing the keys of the offense to Rose, a player who was considered washed four years ago.

There’s more. RJ Barrett transformed from a wing incapable of shooting into one who drilled 40 percent of his triples. Alec Burks, Gibson, Bullock, Nerlens Noel – they all seemed to play the best basketball of their respective careers, each taking turns lifting the team, often in comebacks.

This has been the Knicks’ blueprint all season. Game 2 was a microcosm of that success. The Knicks come out, look overmatched, fall behind — then, somehow, claw their back and pull off the win and afterwards you’re not exactly sure how.

"I would prefer that that wasn't the case but that’s our reality," Thibodeau said of his team’s propensity for comebacks. "That's sort of the nature of the league, whatever your circumstances are, you have to have a will and determination that you can overcome it, whatever's necessary."

There were some tactical changes made. Beleaguered point guard Elfrid Payton was yanked from the starting lineup in the second half, in favor of Rose, and Noel was replaced by Gibson.

Rose finished the game with a team-high 26 points; Gibson pulled down seven rebounds, collected three steals and the Knicks outscored the Hawks by 23 points over his 30 minutes of action.

"Taj was a monster in there tonight," Thibodeau said.

Gibson’s activity and size anchored the defense in the second half, helping the Knicks hold the Hawks to a measly 35 points on 11-for-40 shooting. Young did finish with 30 points, but the Knicks limited him to seven assists. Should that number have been higher given the open looks Young’s teammates were getting? Sure. But opponents missing seemingly clean looks from deep has been part of the Knicks’ blueprint all season; only three teams season held teams to a lower 3-point percentage.

And then there was Randle, who spent the first half flummoxed by the Hawks’ loading up a wall between him and the rim. He then came out in the third quarter looking even more lost. One possession he passed up an open jumper, drove to the rim, then passed up an open lay-up. On another he fired a pass between two teammates and into the Hawks’ bench.

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But then, little by little, he found his groove. He said he was "trying to get into the paint." He said was trying to catch the ball in "different areas." He made faster decisions. He made better decisions. He splashed a 3 off a loose ball. He attacked the rim and finished strong. He splashed a fade-away, giving the Knicks’ their first lead since early in the game. He side-stepped Clint Capela after setting a screen for Rose, giving the Knicks a late nine-point lead and sealing the win. He went 5-for-10 from the field in the second half, finishing with 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

"There’s a great will and determination to him,’’ Thibodeau said. "Obviously we were disappointed in the way he played in the first half, but he’s a fighter."

No word better summarizes this entire group. Now they head to Atlanta, the series tied at 1-1 and very much up for grabs. The Hawks appear to have the best player. They appear to have more talent.

But these Knicks are fighters, no matter how clichéd that sounds. They’ve defied all rational analysis all season, making it further than anyone ever dreamed. The odds are against them going forward, but if they’ve proven anything this season it’s that counting them out would be a mistake.

Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports and the author of Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports. Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.